Advice on moving up to A2

[oscar777]

Ive done my CBT about 5-6 weeks ago and bought a 06 CBR125 pretty much straight after to learn on.

My gf wants the bike as well after me so she is doing her CBT as well. Its great for what it is, aside from being a bit small. I like the bike but I really want some more power soon.

Question is should I continue riding the CBR until spring, then do my Mod 1/2? Or pony up the £500 or so I need for lessons on a 600cc and get it done asap?

Ive called the instructor and this is what they've quoted me for a series of min 5 four hour sessions, price doesn't include the test.

[SandTiger]

Could you not book a week off work? You could do a 3 day course including mod1 & 2 for less than £500.

Question is, how old are you? If you're nearing 24, why not wait and do your Full A? If you're 21/22, then I'd say do it now.

Saying that though, carrying on riding the 125 till spring, will atleast give you some winter experience to take with you onto your big bike.
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2015 Kawasaki Z800e "Zee"
2006 Yamaha MT-03 "Mary Jane"
2011 Yamaha YBR125 "Ally"

[notbike]

I would spend the money on the lessons, you could develop a whole host of "bad-habits" that you may not even realize are there and your instructor would clean these up for you before test day. On top of that, you can really get some valuable advice from your instructors that saves you the hassle of having to learn the hard way some day.

Unless you're practicing Mod1 maneuvers religiously it'll take some concentrated hours under the advice of an instructor to get the Mod1 moves down properly.

Mod 2 you should find easier due to your own experience on the 125.

I had a lot of Mod 1 training, and did most of my Mod 2 stuff on my own bike leading up to the test without an instructor (had very little Mod 2 training aside from a one hour ride around, and some escorts to test) and yet I failed mod 1 first time, got it on second attempt, and passed mod 2 first time. Mod 2 is the easier test.

So yeah I favour the latter option, £500 and get it done asap.

[oscar777]

Im 27 so would go for the full license.

Taking a week off to do the course isn't really an option, I would need it spread out over about 3 weeks or so. I hear the waiting time is quite long for the tests so if I do it now, it would probably put me at doing the test in the middle of winter time.

Im fine with gear changes, clutch control, and riding in traffic. My main problem is the low speed manuevers, esp the U turn.

[Rogerborg]

Why wait? If you have the money, do it now, while demand is tailing off for Autumn rather than ramping up for Spring.

First things first, book your theory, pass that, then consider booking and sitting A1 mod 1 on your CBR. It won't get you anywhere in the long term, but it only costs £15.50 and will give you cheap practice and the confidence that you can do it.

The CBR is a neat bike, but it's light, has narrow tyres and the steering lock isn't great. If you can do the U-turn on that, you'll ace it on a bigger, more stable naked bike.
____________________
Biking is 1/20th as dangerous as horse riding.
GONE: HN125-8, LF-250B, GPz 305, GPZ 500S, Burgman 400 // RIDING: F650GS (800 twin), Royal Enfield Bullet Electra 500 AVL, Ninja 250R because racebike

[notbike]

Yeah it took me a while, the training was very spaced out and I did it over the course of a month and a half due to availability.

For a U turn or any slow speed maneuver the idea is you keep your throttle hand open and hold decent amount of revs then forget about it (not too much, not too little, e.g. 4k RPM). Never let your revs drop. All the focus is on using the clutch to move off, so keep your throttle hand steady then ignore it and focus all on the clutch.

Clutch in = not moving off, clutch out = moving off too quick. In between that somewhere lets you go very slowly, and you gotta adjust how much clutch you're giving it.

Losing balance = bit more clutch. Going too fast = Use a little rear brake and pull clutch in a little bit to reduce speed.

The rest is all in the balance and where you're looking.

For a U-turn, pull off in a straight line first, get to a comfortable slow pace and find your balance, check your shoulder before you turn, then turn handlebars and fixate your vision on something in the distance. Don't look down at the floor, at the bike, or forward, look at something in the distance that you wanna try and point your bike towards and the bike will follow. Main focus should be hearing that your revs aren't dropping, and feeling your clutch hand.

That's the best I could do to explain it lol, just go out and pracitce and you'll have them good in a week. Try doing it in 3 carpark bays and you should be fine for the test, the Mod1 area for the U turn was a lot larger than what we practiced so it was easier on test, once you get them decent, try tightening up your U turns to make it easier on yourself when test time comes around.

Practice your figure of 8s, I neglected those and that failed me on Mod1 first attempt.

[oscar777]

Thanks Meef, thats actually very helpful! Ill practice in an empty parking lot.

Well finances wise the reason I originally went for the bike was partly because of the fuel economy. My bmw gets pretty appalling millage in city driving (4.8 V8). Plus I can park for free right next to my lab at uni when all the carparks are full.

Tbh now that Ive ridden around for a bit on the bike, Im starting to find the car boring. Hence desire for something a bit more substantial. But I suppose paying for the lessons and then potentially spending another 2-3k on a bigger bike is really failing on the original plan to be more economical ha

[Rogerborg]

I don't need anything more than a 125 for my commute, but... well, try a bigger bike and you'll find out why bikes tend to expand to fill the available budget and storage space.

Bigger bikes don't have to be that expensive either. My Enfield costs about the same as a 125 to run. The GS gets 65mpg and the consumables aren't that much more than on a 125. Both of them cost less to insure than a 125, partly making up for the higher VED.

If you put a location in your profile Paddy someone nearby might be up for giving you a quick bit of illicit "back alley" action to see if you like it.
____________________
Biking is 1/20th as dangerous as horse riding.
GONE: HN125-8, LF-250B, GPz 305, GPZ 500S, Burgman 400 // RIDING: F650GS (800 twin), Royal Enfield Bullet Electra 500 AVL, Ninja 250R because racebike

[oscar777]

Well I assume the 125s are overpriced because of higher demand etc. Insurance wise I think I paid around 230 so not too bad, no clue how that compares with bigger bikes?

I would aim for something like a sv650 after this bike, don't really trust myself with a 115hp+ 600 sports bike any time soon tbh.

I know what you mean, I don't really need something bigger for commuting. But I def want it eventually.

[Rogerborg]

[MC]